Artificial nests for birds. Birds
Tits are typical hollow nesters, which also play an important role in the destruction of a huge number of harmful insects. By such simple measures as hanging artificial nests and, it is possible to achieve a significant increase in their livestock, which will inevitably help in the fight against garden pests. Mostly great tit and blue tit go to titmouses willingly. Both species occupy any housing offered to them, both hollowed out in a tree trunk and hammered together from planks. The first is the hollow (picture above) closest to the artificial hollow. Its roof, made of board, should be easily removed, moved away or folded back so that it can be cleaned from time to time. The production of such nests is quite laborious; besides, if the block was not previously sufficiently dried, the nest box usually cracks the next year. It is much easier to make a titmouse from boards; here the quality of the wood is not significant, so you can use woodworking waste. It is only important that they are knocked together tightly, and there are no gaps left, and the bottom is inserted inside so that when it rains, water does not flow into the nest. In case water does get inside, two or three small holes should be drilled in the bottom. The lid, like that of a nest box, must be removable or reclining.
Artificial nests (hollows). 1.2 - general form, 3 - in section.
The entrance hole (letok) is cut in the upper third of the titmouse in the center or in the corner. Its natural shape is round, but a square hole does not interfere with many birds. It is not recommended to attach a perch in front of the entrance, since it only prevents the birds from flying into the nesting place, and can also help predators get to the eggs and chicks.
Behind or on the side, a bar should be nailed to the titmouse, with which it is then attached to a tree trunk or hung from a branch.
Nests for blue tit and other small birds should have: a bottom of 12x12 cm, a height of 20 cm, an inlet diameter of 26 mm and hung at a height of 1.5 to 5 meters. Sparrow, with all the desire, will not take them, because of the too small notch.
For a great tit, you will need a house about the same size or 5 cm higher, but with an inlet with a diameter of 32 to 35 mm. Other species of tits, white-collared flycatchers and pied flycatchers, sometimes pikas and redstarts also settle here. The gardens are occupied by these nests and sparrows. However, the great tit is not one of the shy ones. If necessary, she simply "survives" the uninvited lodger and, having thrown out his nest, builds her own from moss.
Birdhouses with a day size of 15x15 cm, a height of 28-35 cm and a notch diameter of about 50 mm are engaged in starlings, as well as nuthatches and sometimes large spotted woodpeckers. The latter often expand the inlet with their powerful beak, often destroying the entire birdhouse. Therefore, in places with a high number of woodpeckers, the front wall should be doubled. Birdhouses are hung 3-8 m from the ground.
The largest artificial nests have a bottom of 20x20 cm or 30x30 cm, a height of 35-40 cm and a notch diameter of 90 to 130 mm. They are intended for jackdaws, kestrels, owls and other large hollow nesters; hung at a height of 6 meters or more. Their inlets may be square and located in the upper corner of the front wall.
Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Tatarstan
Municipal state-financed organization
"Children's Ecological and Biological Center"
artificial nests"
Compiled by: PDO
Birdina A.F.
2016
In the middle of the XIX century. German zoologist Gloger was one of the first to propose the use of a birdhouse as a means of protecting and attracting birds in European countries. At the same time, there is evidence that the first birdhouses in Europe began to be made as early as the 16th century. At the same time, not only practical goals were pursued (at that time, the benefits brought by starlings as exterminators of harmful insects were already known), but also aesthetic and religious-cult goals.
Birdhouses, 18th century
In the middle and second half of the XX century. hanging bird houses in order to attract birds and increase their numbers, primarily in the centers of mass reproduction of pests and in human settlements, has become especially widespread.
The use of artificial nests to attract birds has a long history. According to G.P. Dementiev, the first birdhouses in Russia appeared several centuries ago. Copies of birdhouses made by Vologda peasants in the late 18th - early 19th centuries have been preserved. (Fig. 1). P.S. Pallas in his "Zoography" (1811) writes about the custom of Russian peasants to hang birdhouses as a ubiquitous phenomenon.
MAIN ELEMENTS OF ARTIFICIAL HOUSES
An artificial house for birds, an artificial nest (hereinafter simply an artificial house) is a structure created by a person in which a bird arranges (viet) its nest. All artificial houses have a number of basic elements, independent of the type of house.
* Letok - a hole for the bird to enter the house.
* The front wall is the wall in which there is a notch.
* The back wall is the wall to which the pole is fixed, or the wall that leans against the tree.
* All other vertical walls are called side walls.
* The chamber is the internal volume of the artificial house.
* A pole is a plank used to attach an artificial house to a tree, etc.
* A fragment is an element of an artificial house made of wood.
* A suspension unit is a mechanical fastening of the elements of an artificial house.
* The connecting element is called: nails, screws, etc.
* A reinforcement knot is a set of elements used in a given place of a seam to increase strength. May be: metal tapes, wire and other elements.
* A seam is the plane of contact between two load-bearing elements.
* A porch is a name for various devices at the notch.
* Bearing elements are called front, rear, side walls, bottom, suspension unit.
* A brand is a small metal, plastic plate indicating the year of manufacture, manufacturer, place of manufacture, individual number.
BASIC REQUIREMENTS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF ARTIFICIAL HOUSES
The main material for the manufacture of artificial houses are boards and slabs. Plywood, chipboard, fiberboard are not suitable due to the presence of an adhesive bonding base in them. In the manufacture of an artificial house, a number of basic requirements must be met.
* The thickness of the material is not less than 15 millimeters.
* Compliance with the main dimensions given in the tables.
* Do not process the planes of the boards, especially for internal surfaces.
* Seal the cracks in the seams with sawdust on PVA and small chips. To prevent the seal from spreading from above, the seams are treated with waterproof agents: plasticine, green paint.
* Ensure reliable connection of load-bearing elements.
* The presence of two pairs of holes in the pole for fastening with wire and nails.
* Existence of a removable roof with a lining.
It is recommended that the following recommendations be followed.
* In places of attachment points, pre-drill a hole 1 mm smaller than the diameter of the connecting element.
* Use sharp screws as a connecting element.
* Houses with round entrances are better inhabited by birds than rectangular houses.
* Sometimes big motley woodpeckers gouge the entrances of titmouses (in winter, to adapt titmouses for themselves for the night; in summer, to get small bird chicks from the nest). To protect against woodpeckers, 8–10 small carnations with caps are hammered around the entrance, or a piece of tin is stuffed into the entrance from the outside with a hole cut in the middle for the entrance (the diameter of the hole is slightly larger than the diameter of the entrance in the titmouse).
* When designing an artificial house for a bird not listed in the table, it is necessary to take into account: the area of the bottom should ensure the location of the nest in the house (the size of the inside is calculated from the size of the nest with a small allowance), birds are more likely to populate the house when the notch corresponds to its size and other features bird nesting.
CLASSIFICATION OF ARTIFICIAL HOUSES
1. Type: Standard artificial houses.
1. Subtype: Birdhouses.
2. Subtype: Titmouse.
2. Type: Multi-family artificial houses.
1. Subtype: Multi-storey.
2. Subtype: Multi-section.
3. Subtype: Mixed.
3. Type: Experimental artificial houses.
1. Subtype: With modified basic parameters.
2. Subtype: With modified suspension system.
3. Subtype: Reshaped.
4. Subtype: With the use of additional devices.
5. Subtype: Multifamily.
6. Subtype: For a new inhabitant.
7. Subtype: Mixed.
4. Type: Artificial houses with decoration.
1. Subtype: Standard.
2. Subtype: Multifamily.
3. Subtype: Special.
to the first type
include artificial houses designed for starlings, tits, goldeneyes, owls, rollers, hoopoes, sparrows, redstarts, pied flycatchers, blue titmouse, vertishes, nuthatches, gadki, grenadiers. It looks like a house. Character traits:
* has four walls in pairs parallel - back, front and two side;
* are intended for settlement by one family;
* in the mount - a pole.Birdhouses and titmouses have no structural differences, but differ in their size and diameter of the notch. We will conditionally assume that birdhouses include houses with an internal bottom area of more than 144 cm2, titmouses of 144 cm2 or less.
to the second type
include artificial houses intended for settlement by a colony of birds. They are mainly intended for swifts, swallows, sparrows, etc. Feature: several chambers for nesting. Subtypes have a clear distinction.
to the third type
include artificial houses in which various new elements are introduced. An example of such elements are: houses for birds not described in the table; attachment points, etc. It is desirable to fill in the accompanying sheet of the house and new elements according to the model. Subtypes have a clear distinction. It is allowed to use various new elements with a separate description of each.
to the fourth type
include artificial houses that have different decorations, namely: painting, carving, etc. Since the main dimensions do not change, the subtypes are clearly delineated.
DESCRIPTION OF ARTIFICIAL HOUSES
I type. Standard artificial houses.
This type includes artificial houses intended for settlement by starlings and tits (birdhouses, titmouses). They are the main type of artificial bird houses. The manufacture is not laborious, does not require high-quality wood and complex mechanical or manual processing. Convenient to transport and hang.
Both subtypes have the same basic construction. The main differences are in the inhabitant, and as a result, in size. The name says for which inhabitants these artificial houses are mainly intended. But they can be populated not only by starlings and tits, but also by other birds of similar size and nesting in artificial nests. In this regard, it is difficult to draw a specific boundary between birdhouses and titmouses. 
MAIN OPTIONS
In the manufacture of both subtypes, the main options are associated with the attachment point and the roof.
The fastening is used in two types: with a double-sided pole (Fig. 1) and a one-sided pole (Fig. 2).
Double-sided pole attachment provides a more secure attachment to trees, walls, etc. It is easier to work with when hanging artificial houses.
Fastening with a one-sided pole is used for fastening artificial houses on poles, to increase the height of the artificial houses. When using this subtype of fastening, special attention must be paid to fastening the pole to the artificial house.
Roofs are mainly used in three types: flat (Fig. 3), sloping (Fig. 4), gable (Fig. 5).
A flat roof is simple and easy to manufacture, it allows you to provide for the cleaning of the house, which is extremely necessary after three to four years of its operation. Provides reliable protection rainfall. To attach the roof to the house, a roof lining is used, which fits tightly enough into the house. The roof is not attached to the house with nails.
The sloping roof is used for variety. It is more labor intensive to make. Does not reliably cover the letok.
The gable roof provides better protection for the house from rain. During manufacture, a metal lining is required at the junction of the halves of the roof. In the manufacture of a removable roof, the lining is attached to both halves. 
MANUFACTURING.
Having determined the type of artificial house that you are going to make, proceed to the layout.
The chamber must be of standard size and is taken from the table in accordance with the type of bird for which the nest is being built. In the manufacture of variation houses, the dimensions of the chamber remain standard, plus additional allowances are added to them.
Example: we choose an artificial house with a sloping roof for a titmouse.
Front wall: 14+2 cm.
Back wall: 14 cm.
Side walls: 14+2 cm.
Roof: 240/(10+4) = X/C (142+22).
In the manufacture of standard artificial houses, there are quite a few various ways associated with certain skills, available tools and materials. We present the main manufacturing algorithm and analyze one of the methods.
Algorithm for manufacturing a standard artificial house.
1. Preparatory stage.
1. Choosing the type of standard artificial house.
2. The choice of materials for a standard artificial house.
3. Calculation of fragments of a standard artificial house (length, width).
4. Marking fragments of a standard artificial house.
2. Processing the details of a standard artificial house.
3. Assembly of a standard artificial house.
From my practice, I can recommend the following manufacturing method.
1. We make a standard artificial house with a double-sided pole and a flat roof for a titmouse.
2. The material is boards 2 cm thick.
3. Bottom, lining under the roof 10x10 cm; side walls 20x10 cm; front and back walls 20x14 cm; roof 20x16 cm; notch diameter 3.2 cm; notch center height 14 cm; pole 40x4x2 cm.
4. Marking is carried out on 4 boards. It is advisable to choose flat boards to facilitate marking and processing. On the first board mark the bottom, lining under the roof, side walls. The front and back walls are marked on the second board, the roof is marked on the third board, and the pole is marked on the fourth. To save materials, boards are chosen 5–10 mm wider than the width of the fragments. Between the fragments leave an allowance of 5-10 mm for processing.
2. The boards are sawn according to the marking into fragments. Turning the side edges and ends, bring them to the desired size. A notch and holes for nails are drilled in the front wall.
3. The assembly is carried out in the following order: the pole is attached to the rear wall, the left and right walls are mounted to the rear wall, the front wall is mounted to the left and right walls, the bottom is adjusted and mounted, the lining is adjusted to the roof and mounted to the roof. If there are gaps, they are sealed with sawdust on PVA and covered with plasticine on top or painted over with oily, waterproof green paints. Reinforce seams if necessary. A stamp is made and attached to the side wall.
II type. Multi-family artificial houses.
Multi-family artificial houses are designed for birds that prefer to nest together (swallows). In the manufacture of quite laborious, require careful processing. Required special conditions for transportation. When hanging, experienced teams and at least two people are required for hanging.
Subtype Multi-storey.
It is a modified standard house. Simplistically, it can be imagined as several birdhouses stacked on top of each other. Usually intended for two bird families.
In production, it is distinguished by the fastening of the intermediate bottom before fastening the front wall. Otherwise, the manufacturing process is similar to the manufacturing process of a standard house.
Subtype Multisection.
It is a modified standard house. Simplistically, it can be imagined as several birdhouses interconnected by side or rear walls. The number of families is determined by the type of birds and the place of hanging.
In the manufacture of multi-section houses, the main load-bearing element is the bottom. The outer walls are common for most cells. In the manufacture of them, it is desirable to use one board. Mounting points can be of two types: hanging on a wire (like a chandelier), or fastening with poles (1-2 or more, depending on the dimensions of the house).
Various materials can be used to make artificial nests: cement, clay, scraps of asbestos pipes, etc. However, boards, boards and tree trunks with a drilled core remain the traditional and best material. The thickness of the boards for the manufacture of bird houses should be at least 1.5, and preferably 2.5 cm. From the outside, the boards should be planed, but their inner surface should be left unplaned, rough. The general plan for sawing and assembling artificial nests is shown in fig. 2 and 3. 
Rice. Fig. 2. Knocking together a titmouse with an internal size of 10 x 10 cm from a board of different widths (top view): a - “normal” knocking together; b - with a corner sawn tap hole; c - from a tesa of the same width; d - nailing with folding
Rice. 3. Making a birdhouse. Legend:
A - the outer length and width of the house; a - length and width of the bottom;
B - the outer height of the house; b - distance from the bottom to the lid;
B - width and G - length of the cover; t is the thickness of the material (boards); l - taphole diameter
The lid of the birdhouse must be made inclined to one side, which will ensure that rainwater drains. It is not worth making a gable roof - firstly, this complicates the manufacture of the birdhouse itself, and secondly, it is much more difficult to make a gable roof removable. Meanwhile, the ability to remove the cover and remove nest debris once a year is necessary condition regular settlement of the birdhouse. For nailing boards, it is better to use nails 5–7 cm long. You need to assemble the house so as not to leave gaps, the presence of which many birds cannot stand. If the cracks still remain, then they are smeared with clay or covered with wood chips, nailed with small carnations. It is better to insert the bottom inside and nail it through the walls, and not from below - otherwise it will quickly fall off. The gaps between the bottom and the side walls, if they remain, are plugged with tow, cotton wool or rags, and a certain amount of sawdust is poured onto the bottom of the birdhouse. A plank is nailed to the back wall of the house, with the help of which the nesting box is nailed to the tree or tied with aluminum wire. Outside, the birdhouse is painted with soft oil paint, which significantly extends its service life.
In front of the notch, you should not stuff any planks and "porches", and even more so thin perches. However, on the side of the birdhouse it is useful to nail a small branch that rises above the roof to sit down flying birds. According to the established tradition, in the nests intended for starlings, the notch is made round and drilled at the very top of the front wall, and in the titmouses it is square and sawn through in the upper right or left corner. It should be noted that with all the variety of artificial nesting sites, these two types remain the two main and most common: the “titmouse” and the larger “birdhouse”. Of course, not only starlings and tits settle in them, but also other hollow-nesting birds, which these houses suit in size. However, it is possible to arrange houses and even larger or, conversely, smaller sizes. In table. 1 shows the sizes of artificial nests recommended for different types of birds (according to K.N. Blagosklonov).
Hollows are a special type of artificial nesting sites. They can be with an added bottom and dugout. In places where foresters fell hollow trees, segments of hollows of a suitable height are cut from fallen trunks, in which a notch is drilled from the side in the upper part. Then an attached bottom is nailed from below, and a removable cover is made from above. It is much more difficult to make a hollow out of a split block of wood by hollowing out the contour of the hollow from its two halves and then tying them with wire. A simplified technology for the manufacture of hollows was proposed by V. Strokov. He recommends cutting out the core of a block of logs split into four parts, and then putting the remaining parts together again and fastening them with wire and nails. The internal dimensions of the hollows are indicated in Table. 2. It should be noted that nest boxes are no better than nests made from boards, and it is more difficult to make them in a school workshop. The only advantage is that in the first year, nest boxes are populated better than box nests, as fresh wood scares away some birds. In order to avoid this, ornithologists suggest rubbing freshly made nest boxes with clay or earth. A few general recommendations about hanging artificial nests.
In the forest, it is better to place them along clearings, roads or paths, but at some distance. At the same time, it must be remembered that starlings prefer to settle on the edges and therefore an exception must be made for them. It is advisable to hang birdhouses with an inclination forward - so it will be easier for the chicks to get out. Nests are best located on the main trunks of trees and in those parts of the crown where there are no branches. In crowded places, nesting sites should be hung higher: in a secluded place, tits can nest at a height of 3 m from the ground, while on open places houses for them should be located at a height of 4–6 m. However, a titmouse located above 8 m, even in a city park, will be inhabited only by sparrows and pied flycatchers. Nests for goldeneyes are hung near ponds on tall trees, nests for jackdaws and owls, kestrels, owls - high on trees or on brick buildings. Depending on the biotope and the nature of the area, both a certain density and the ratio of different types of nesting sites must be observed. So, in the garden, titmouses should make up 3/4 of the total number of nesting sites, and in a village with rare trees near fields and vegetable gardens, on the edge, on the contrary, birdhouses should prevail.
duplyanka
birdhouse
In a mixed forest with a density of 10 titmouses per 1 ha and a hanging height of 3–8 m, one can expect active colonization of nesting sites by pied flycatchers, great tits, blue titmouse, chickadees and grenadiers. In young deciduous and mixed forests with a density of 2–3 titmouse per 1 ha and a hanging height of 4–8 m, mass nesting of pied flycatchers can be expected. In a clean forest without undergrowth, with a density of 5–10 titmouses per 1 ha and a hanging height of 4–8 m, nesting of pied flycatchers, great tits, nuthatches, chickadees and grenadiers can be expected. Pied flycatchers, great tits, redstarts, and field sparrows will nest in the old orchard with a hanging density of up to 20 titmouse per 1 ha and a hanging height of 2–6 m. In rural-type settlements, on the outskirts of small towns, on individual trees near fields and vegetable gardens with a density of 2–5 titmouses per 1 ha and a hanging height of 4–8 m, mainly field and house sparrows will nest. Pied flycatchers, redstarts, field and house sparrows nest in large city parks without undergrowth at a density of 3–5 titmouses per 1 ha and a hanging height of 5–8 m. And, finally, on city boulevards and squares with a density of 2–3 titmouse per 1 ha and a hanging height of 5–8 m, house sparrows will mainly settle, although not in in large numbers pied flycatchers, redstarts and tree sparrows can also be expected to populate the houses.
When celebrating Bird Day during the spring school holidays, from about the end of March to the beginning of April, it is necessary to organize nesting at this time. The latest hanging dates are allowed until mid-April, but birdhouses - until the end of March. Hanging nests in May, you can still attract late-arriving pied flycatchers. Nests, hung out in autumn, attract tits, which spend the night in them in winter and remain nesting in spring.
And one more important rule. Schools organizing the hanging of birdhouses in large numbers should keep a regular record of the birds settling in them, taking into account the size of the house, the place and height of the hanging, and the nature of the surrounding area. In addition to being a good base for extracurricular activities and environmental education, the material collected from year to year will be of great value to the school museum and biology room, and eventually ornithologists will be able to use it.
For nesting, birds need a variety of “apartments” - those species that live in hollows in nature will like birdhouses, some birds make nests on tree branches at different heights, sparrows can nest under the roof, finding a small hole at the junction of the pediment and the roof.
You can buy ready-made bird houses or make your own, the main thing is to install them so that they provide protection from rain and sun, as well as from cats, squirrels and birds of prey. It is advisable to clean birdhouses every fall. Shrubs can also provide reliable shelter for birds, they will also give them food in the winter in the form of berries and insects hibernating under fallen dry leaves.
Types artificial nestsAn artificial bird nest is an artificial structure designed to accommodate bird nests.
Artificial nests are divided into open and closed. Closed nests are made in the form of wooden houses (boxes) and are usually intended for birds nesting in hollows. The work of setting up closed nests in the professional jargon of ornithologists is sometimes called nestboxing (from the English nest box).
closed nests
Birdhouses and titmouses are the most popular among amateurs - artificial nests for small birds, mainly nesting in hollows. They are traditionally made in the form of wooden houses with a round or rectangular notch. Birdhouses and titmouses are often made by amateurs and are located in urban areas. In Soviet times, there was a practice of involving schoolchildren in the manufacture of birdhouses at labor lessons.
A variant of a birdhouse or a titmouse is also a nest box - a nesting place in the form of a piece of a tree trunk with a hollowed out core, closed at the top and bottom with a bird entrance in the wall.
Which nesting sites are better - from boards, hollows or from other materials? In the more northern regions of Russia, the best indicator of nest settlements was obtained for drilled nest boxes. Indeed, small hollow nesters prefer nest boxes to plank titmouses, apparently, precisely in the northern regions of the country. Obviously, the reason for this is that temperature regime nest boxes are more favorable than a plank titmouse. But already in middle lane countries, plank titmouses, as a rule, are populated better than nest boxes.
Cement nests in cold climates are unsuitable because of their thermal conductivity. However, in Germany and other countries of Western Europe, in recent years, cement-sawdust nests have been used, devoid of this drawback. They are practically eternal, not very heavy, do not have cracks, and birds willingly populate them.
All kinds of pottery nests do not keep heat, and at the slightest cold snap, the broods die in them. Nests from flower pots, old iron cans, pieces of drainpipes, boxes, boxes (wooden, plywood, cardboard) are completely unsuitable for nesting birds. Although birds sometimes settle in them, a significant part of their clutches and chicks die in the event of a cold snap. These nests, being fragile, often collapse and fall along with the nest.
Open nests
Open nests are platforms installed on trees or on poles in conditions of a shortage of nesting trees and are intended for birds nesting in open nests (mainly birds of prey).
Problem
The most significant reason for the decline in the number of many species of birds is the change in their habitat. Species that cannot adapt to new conditions find themselves in the most difficult situation.
For more numerous and adaptive birds, these changes did not become catastrophic due to negative impact in forest parks of sanitary cuttings, removal of dead wood, clearing of shrubs, etc. For many birds that nest in hollows and thickets, it is increasingly difficult to find a home, shelter, a feeder on berry bushes, so they nest less than they could. In the conditions of a large city, it is very important to preserve a fairly extensive network of park and forest park areas where biodiversity is maintained, although they function due to a complex of natural and anthropogenic factors.
The construction of artificial nests, the protection of existing nesting sites, the feeding of birds is carried out regularly by forestry workers, in this matter ornithologists, schoolchildren, and students help them to one degree or another.
To assess the state of artificial nests by people and their settlement by birds, it is necessary to conduct ongoing research and certain biotechnical measures. As practice shows, this is not always carried out in practice in the proper amount.
Target: To study the population of artificial nesting sites in the forest park "Kuzminki".
Tasks:
· To form the skills necessary for the study and evaluation of artificial nests.
· To study different types of nests and their use in winter and autumn.
· Give an opinion on the state of artificial nesting sites.
· Make and hang an artificial nest.
Material and research methods.
The object of the study is a site in the forest park "Kuzminki" on which the bird houses under study are located.
Research methods:
· Mapping.
Site surveys.
· Analysis of nesting litter.
· Technique of point counts.
Research progress.
1. Select a site in the forest park and draw up its plan;
2. Explore artificial nests;
3. Collect nesting material;
4. Assess the suitability of nest sites;
5. Analyze the necessary literature;
6. Draw conclusions.
Various types of bird nests
One of the most common ways to help birds is artificial nesting. This is the place where the bird's nest is located, made by man to attract it. As a rule, they imitate natural nesting sites: birdhouses, titmouses, hollows - tree hollows, half-hollows - various niches and voids in the trunks, stork nests - a wide base for a nest on a broken tree top, structure. It is possible to arrange artificial nesting sites both to compensate for the lack of natural nesting sites, and to attract birds to certain places - to dwellings, to fields, to protected areas. And vice versa, with the help of such nests, birds can be distracted from nesting in undesirable places, for example, storks on electric poles or monuments. According to scientists, this is an ecological system for controlling the behavior of birds.
Usually, in the conditions of the city, hanging artificial nests is carried out with the help of forestry employees during ecological holidays - Bird Days.
birdhouses made of boards with a thickness of at least 1.5 cm. The outer walls of the boards are planed. It is impossible to plan the inner surface, since in this case the nesting place turns into a trap for birds - they cannot get out of there. A round hole is drilled in the front wall at a distance of 2-3 cm from the upper edge - a notch. It can also be made square, in which case it is cut out in one of the upper corners of the front wall. Boards sawn to size are fastened with nails or screws. The lid is made flat, wider than the bottom, so that there is a small canopy in front to protect the nest from rain or snow entering through the notch. In order to make it convenient to disinfect and clean the nesting place, the lid is hinged. In birdhouses, starlings, sparrows, redstarts, and sometimes swifts breed chicks.
Titmouse very similar in shape to a birdhouse, but smaller. They nest great tits, pied flycatchers, nuthatches, vertinecks. Great tits are more willing to settle in titmouses with a notch, the same as that of a birdhouse. For other birds, the notch should be smaller.
duplyanki differ from box nests not only in shape, but also in material - they can be made from wood with an affected core, which is removed with a chisel, or from whole logs drilled on a lathe and drilling machine. Birdhouses are designed to attract the same birds as box nests, so their sizes are the same. In the bottom of the hollow, you need to drill 1-2 holes with a diameter of 3 mm so that the water that gets into it flows out. Holly nests are less visible on the tree, and some birds (nuthatchets, Muscovites, etc.) clearly prefer them.
Main types of nests
Artificial nests
From time immemorial, man tried to settle birds near his dwelling, so that they would please him with their appearance and singing and be allies in the struggle for the harvest. A wide variety of objects were used and are still being used as artificial houses: clay pots, dry pumpkins, pipe cuttings, hollowed-out pieces of wood. The most common are the so-called box nests, among them is the familiar birdhouse. Thanks to traditional attraction, the number of starlings has increased so much that in some places they began to harm fruit and berry crops. But, in addition to starlings, houses are inhabited by many other birds, which we have already written about. To attract them to gardens and parks, it is enough to hang up nesting boxes somewhat smaller than for starlings, in size (Fig. 17).
The types and sizes of such nests are shown in Figure 18. It is better to hang titmouses and nest boxes in groups of 10-30 pieces at a distance of 20-25 m from each other, since the birds, although they live alone, prefer to hear a singing neighbor. The hanging height is 3-5 m. If the site is intensively visited by people, then you can hang it higher. Of all directions, the flycatcher prefers the eastern one, and the titmouse prefers the western one. Half-hollows for wagtails and gray flycatchers hang one by one near buildings, boxes for jackdaws and swifts - also near housing. Indispensable conditions that must be observed when making nests: do not plan them from the inside - the chicks will not be able to get out of them; under the notch there should not be a variety of shelves and sticks; no gaps should be left in the walls and floor.
It is better to hang houses in late March - early April, according to tradition, schools celebrate Bird Day at this time. It can be carried out according to the most diverse program: with a carnival, a concert, children's reports on the meaning of birds, a competition for a record number of hollows made. At the end of spring, before the end of classes, it is very useful to make observations on the settlement of hung titmouses. This is easy to do by looking at what birds appear near the houses. In the fall, you can visit the nesting sites again, check their safety, and if the covers are removed, then clean them. It is not necessary to remove them for the winter, as wintering birds use them for spending the night.
Duplyanki and titmice can be hung in the pioneer camp. True, immediately after hanging, only pied flycatchers can nest in them, and even those in small numbers; in some, great tits with a second brood. On the other hand, next year it is possible to develop a complete program of observations on the colonization, intensity of rearing, timing of departure and repeated clutches of hollow-nesting birds.
It is somewhat more difficult to attract open-nesting birds for nesting, that is, those that do not use houses, but this is also possible on a school site or in a pioneer camp, especially if there is an orchard nearby. Open nesting birds, together with hollow nesters, will effectively protect it from pests. Most The best way- planting prickly garden hedges from honey locust, sucker, hawthorn, golden currant, shadberry, Tatar maple. If cut every year, they form a solid green wall, convenient for birds and inaccessible to predators. In such a wall near Moscow University, repolov, warblers, greenfinches nest every year. 8 pairs of greenfinches, 6 pairs of field sparrows, 10 pairs of gray and garden warblers, 2 pairs of shrike-shrikes were counted for nesting on one kilometer of the fence at the state farm "Tsvetschayu Moldaviya". Attracting birds increases their numbers by 5-7 times.
Meadow coin loves to sit on vertical blades of grass and twigs 
Male and female warbler-blackheads are easy to distinguish by the color of the cap 
Lentils are one of the most colorful songbirds 
Chiffchaff, like other warblers, is painted very modestly, but it has a sonorous voice and an easy-to-remember song